Saturday, February 23, 2013

10,000+ FREE Digital Teaching Resources use promo code PBS-sd http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

Go to PBS Learning Media and sign up for a FREE account- please use my promo code PBS-sd (case-sensitive) and share my code with educators in your district. The code will be entered on page two of the free registration.

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

PBS LearningMedia™ is the go-to destination for instant access to tens of thousands of classroom-ready, digital resources including videos, games, audio clips, photos, lesson plans, and more! You can search, save, and share with ease. Best of all, PBS LearningMedia is free for educators.

Check it out today!!

Sandi

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Congrats to the 2013 Nature Photographer of the Year- the AMAZING Daniel Cox!

Congrats to Daniel Cox - 2013 Nature Photographer of the Year. What a nice guy! His work is nothing short of AMAZING.

http://www.naturephotographysummit.com/program/general-sessions/2012-nature-photographer-of-the-year/

Last summer he gave incredible, patient photography lessons to all who attended the Discovery Educators Network Summer Institute in Bozeman, Montana.
I cried while watching his slide show about Polar Bears International. (Life changing.)

I felt honored but a little silly asking basic questions to this worldwide expert. But he was generous with his time and knowledge.

Check out his work or sign up for a nature vacay with him and his wife!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

President Obama and his SuPeR CoOL Teleprompter

 
So how was YOUR Valentine's Day in 2013?  
How was mine, you ask? Considering the fact that I was standing behind the President of the United States of America while he gave a speech,  mine was pretty nice. 

 yep...

My entire city of Decatur, Georgia, and City Schools of Decatur- a public system just outside Atlanta, got a Valentine's gift to remember this year-- a visit from President Obama!

In between wondering if the visit was, in fact, really happening...I , being the geek I am, could not stop staring at the teleprompter.  Teachers in City Schools of Decatur who were lucky enough to get Presidential tickets were able to go inside our city's recreation department for the President's speech- and stand behind him while he delivered his address.   Our district Director of Communications worked night and day to prepare for what I thought was a totally perfect and impressive visit to our fantastic city.  (see speech video below--  it centered around his wonderful plan to provide instructional preschool to all children, regardless of parental income.  We're not talking about day care here.)




Here are a couple highlights from my day with the visitors from Washington, D.C.--
First of all- I love the students in this video - They are some of the greatest kids I've ever had the pleasure of teaching.  And they didn't skip a beat when being interviewed by local and national news agencies-- I am so proud of them!


And I have to tell you how thrilled this librarian was to be reading along in my mind with the President while he gave his speech.  I was at just the right angle to read his teleprompter.   He did embellish the written speech a bit, and the scrolling kept right up with him, and even knew when to skip entire sections of the speech for continuity.  He is a master orator!  I started wondering if it is an actual job to be the President's "official speech scroller". Kudos to the person who kept up with him flawlessly.

I did a little Googling, and this teleprompter by Telescript (in NJ) look like the kind the President used.  He had one on each side of his lectern/podium.  You could see the scrolling speech if you were at just the right angle, but from the front it looked like matte-finished glass.  Way cool.

But not as cool as spending my Valentine's Day with the President.

http://www.telescript.com/on_stage.htm


Saturday, February 9, 2013

NOVA's 'Can Science Stop Crime?' Hosted by NYT Technology Columnist David Pogue

I saw David Pogue http://www.davidpogue.com/ when he was the keynote speaker/singer/piano player/comedian at Georgia's Ed. Tech Conference a few years ago. He is incredible.
He is also the host of NOVA's 'Can Science Stop Crime'. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/can-science-stop-crime.html

Check it out- record it- order it. It will certainly be fun and informative.

Here's a write-up from KPBS:
David Pogue, popular technology reporter for The New York Times, is the new host of the critically acclaimed science magazine series, NOVA scienceNOW, beginning with the launch of Season Six in October 2012. Featuring four stories in each themed episode, the new season again tackles an array of thought-provoking topics.
"Can Science Stop Crime?" - What’s the secret to stopping crime? David Pogue gives the third degree to scientists pushing the limits of technology — not only to solve horrific murders, but also to try to prevent crimes.

Pogue learns the latest techniques, from unraveling the clues embedded in a decomposing corpse to detecting lies by peering directly into a suspect’s brain to tracking the creation of a psychopath’s mind.

And a genius crime-stopper has made some terrifying discoveries, including how easy it is for a bad guy to highjack — not just your laptop, but your kids’ toys, your pacemaker and even your car.